This invention relates generally to operating media equipment devices, and is particularly applicable, without limitation, to systems and methods for operating energy-efficient media equipment devices.
As media equipment devices, such as set-top boxes, have become ubiquitous fixtures in many homes, concerns have arisen over the amount of energy consumed by these devices. In 2006, set-top boxes alone consumed about 20 terawatt-hours of energy in the United States. One reason for this relatively high energy consumption by set-top boxes is that short of reaching behind an obstacle to physically unplug power to the device, users do not have an effective means to power down the device when not in use. Under current architecture, “turning off” a set-top box (e.g., by depressing the power button on the device or a remote control) does not result in a significant reduction in the energy consumed by the set-top box. This is because set-top boxes are configured to remain responsive to the service provider even when “turned off,” in order to receive data and service updates from the service provider. With the advent of personal recorders, such as digital video recorders (DVRs), set-top boxes also stay powered up in order to perform program recordings. In addition, current set-top boxes store program schedule information received from the service provider in volatile memory, leading to loss of all program schedule information if the set-top box is left without power. Loss of locally-stored program schedule data is a significant impediment to securing user cooperation in reducing the energy consumption of set-top boxes. For example, a set-top box that loses power can take fifteen minutes or more to restore short-term program guide data for programs that are currently being broadcast, and about a day to restore longer-term program guide data needed to access programs being broadcast in a week. With increasing reliance on digital video recorders (DVRs), even long-term data have become important to users and the inability to access such data can significantly impact the user's enjoyment of their entertainment experience.